The soot and smoke left after a fire incident must be cleaned off without any delay whatsoever. Leaving them for too long can have unwanted consequences. How so? The soot and smoke get absorbed into the walls and every other item left in the home. These items begin to emit the stench of the smoke and soot long after you have carried out the cleaning of the home. You may never be able to get rid of such stench for a very long time to come. This is just one of the several reasons you should carry out fire (and water) damage cleanup almost immediately.

Starting off

Immediately after the fire incident, put on protective gears, including goggle and face mask. Open all the windows and the doors in the building. If the fan is still working, put it on; put on the air conditioning system also if it is not yet damaged by the fire. This will ensure the smoke hanging in the atmosphere is eliminated faster. Afterwards, arm yourself with standard vacuum cleaner and clean off the soot and ashes that the fire might have left. Step carefully since some smoldering items might still be left in the building. After the cleaning, identify items that are already scorched by the fire and discard them. Never attempt to keep those scorched items as this will only make the smoke stench to hang on in the atmosphere. Keep only those items that are not scorched at all by fire.

Thorough home cleaning

After the initial cleaning as described above, set to work to clean the home. You will have to wash, clean or mop everything in the home, including the floors, the walls, the furniture and every other part of the home. There are specially made washing products that can be used in washing off any sign of fire from the home. These washing solutions are easy to come by and you can buy them over the counter. Some outlets can even deliver right at your doorstep. They are strong enough to remove any sign of fire damage from the home and make the place look new again. The counters, the floor, the walls and everything in the interior must be washed using the solution.

How to handle the walls

If your carpet or rug is fortunate enough not to be scorched, just remove them and spread them out in the sun. The UV ray from the sun will penetrate into them and freshen them. Breeze will help blow off any stench from the carpet to make it useful again in the home. Your cleaning effort on the wall during fire damage cleanup can only pay off if the wall is just damaged on the surface. However, you may have to do more than ordinary cleaning if the interior parts of the walls are damaged. When such happens, you may have to do a complete replacement of the wall. At a time like this, you will require the intervention of experts, except if you have trainings in such things. They will help to remove the damaged section of the wall and replace it to ensure the fresh scent in the home is restored